Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Look Up Back to School Mashable Selects Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series'She sleeps around, he's prepared': Women report massive double standard for carrying condoms Women fear judgement more than ever for producing a condom in an encounter, a new sexual health and wellness study has found. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. A new national study has revealed that women face a troubling double when it comes to carrying a key component of sexual health: condoms. When Australian women were asked about carrying condoms, the two most common answers were both about her sexual conduct: that she is planning to have sex (45.4%), and that she sleeps around (38.6%).

Amid historically low birth rates and economic pressures from its aging population, China will eliminate a decades-old tax exemption on contraceptives. A visitor looks at condoms during the Beijing International Sex Supplies Exhibition. Amid historically low birth rates and economic pressures from its aging population, China will eliminate a decades-old tax exemption on contraceptives. China aims to impose a unique strategy to address a falling birth rate that threatens its long-term stability. As of January 1, 2026, the government will levy a 13 percent value-added tax (VAT) on various contraceptives, including condoms.

How to Do It is Slate's sex advice column. Send it to Jessica and Rich here. We have sex two to three times a week, and it's wonderful. But I've been using AI tools for masturbation nearly every day. It's just so easy to explore wacky and fun scenarios (specifically in the fantasy and sci-fi genres) that I've found it dividing my attention from my girlfriend.

This paper details the development of an interactive sculpture built from deprecated hardware technology and intentionally decomposable, transient materials. We detail a case study of "Strain" - an emotive prototype that reclaims two orphaned digital artifacts to power a kinetic sculpture made of common disposable objects. We use the Myo, an abandoned myoelectric armband, in concert with the Programmable Air, a soft-robotics prototyping project, to manipulate a pneumatic bladder array constructed from condoms, bamboo skewers, and a small library of 3D printed PLA plastic connectors designed to work with these generic parts. The resulting sculpture achieves surprisingly organic actuation. The goal of this project is to produce several reusable components: software to resuscitate the Myo Armband, homeostasis software for the Programmable Air or equivalent pneumatic projects, and a library of easily-printed parts that will work with generic bamboo disposables for sculptural prototyping. This project works to develop usable, repeatable engineering by applying it to a slightly whimsical object that promotes a strong emotional response in its audience. Through this, we transform the disposable into the sustainable. In this paper, we reflect on project-based insights into rescuing and revitalizing abandoned consumer electronics for future works.

From machine learning and AI right through to securing the IoT, here are five things we learned about at this year's event, which took place in Lisbon on October 14. Have you ever thought about how many decisions machines have made today? Or how many of those decisions were based on gender, race, or background? Chances are you don't even realize just how many decisions are made by artificial intelligence instead of a human. Kriti Sharma, Founder of AI for Good, explained that algorithms are being used all the time to make decisions about who we are and what we want.

The 2018 Winter Olympics games, taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea, kicks off in February. A record amount of condoms -- nearly 40 per person -- were distributed to athletes participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics this month, a handout officials say will allow tense competitors to let out steam during the high-pressure games in South Korea. But the move is raising questions about allowing the Olympic Village to turn into a freewheeling sex romp at a time when the #MeToo movement has taken the world by storm and sensitivity about sexual misconduct is at an all-time high. "The Olympics is a very sexually charged time," Julie Spira, an online and mobile dating expert, told CBS News. "Young athletes and attendees have been using dating apps heavily in prior Olympics, but now the popularity of an app like Tinder continues to grow and grow." Some 1.2 million people, including athletes, were expected to gather in PyeongChang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

More than 50 women in Sweden who said they used the Natural Cycles app as contraception ended up pregnant and reported their cases to the Medical Product Agency, according to a statement from Natural Cycles. The app, a certified contraceptive in Europe, has about the same failure rates as the pill, but only under certain circumstances, according to experts. "Natural methods, when used correctly, are very very effective," Richard J. Fehring, professor, and director of the Marquette University College of Nursing Institute for Natural Family Planning, told International Business Times. The Natural Cycles app uses an algorithm to calculate the days a woman is fertile and therefore most likely to get pregnant and when used properly, it claims to be about as effective as the pill. The app requires that users take their temperature each morning and input it into the app, then after some calculations, the app says whether users are "not fertile," or should "use protection."

Sex robots are coming – and there's little we can do to stop them. One California company already supplies 600 hyper-realistic sex dolls per year to customers. Give it a decade and'sexbots' will be commonplace. Understandably, there are real fears that sex robots are misogynistic and will fuel the objectification of women. There is already a sex robot whose setting includes'frigid', enabling men to simulate rape.

Kentucky Fried Chicken is once again showing how tech-savvy it is. The fast food chain's Chinese division, reports TechCrunch, is partnering up with Baidu (essentially China's Google) to create a new tech-infused "smart restaurant" in Beijing that'll use kiosks with facial recognition technology to scan a customer's face and make food order suggestions based on their mood, age and gender. The idea is either genius (it does all the decision-making for you!) or a terrible idea that could go wrong in so many ways. In a press release, Baidu says a 20-something-year-old male might be recommended a "crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings and coke" meal for lunch. A female in her 50s, however, would be suggested "porridge and soybean milk for breakfast."

For proof, look no further than the year's most impactful innovations, offering solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems. From a futuristic bus that glides over traffic to a $1 cup saving countless babies' lives, inventors developed ingenious gadgets and ideas that tackle inequality and improve the world for millions of people. In no particular order -- and certainly not an exhaustive list -- these 21 social good innovations had a massive impact this year. The only thing cooler than a drone is an edible drone -- especially one that saves lives. An inexpensive drone prototype, called Pouncer, was designed to help deliver humanitarian aid to remote regions with impassible roads.